Nicholas Benson '83

Nick is a third-generation stone carver, calligrapher, and designer. While almost all cut-stone lettering in the United States is done by machines today, Nick is a master of hand letter carving. His inscriptions and decorative reliefs can be seen on family memorials and buildings throughout the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the National World War II Memorial and the Dr. Martin Luther King National Memorial.

In addition to training with his father, John Everett Benson, Nick studied at the State University of New York, Purchase and the Schule für Gestaltung in Basel, Switzerland. Since 1993, he has been the owner and creative director of The John Stevens Shop in Newport, Rhode Island, which was established in 1705 and acquired by the Benson family in the 1920s. In 2007, Nick was awarded the National Endowment for the ArtsNational Heritage Fellowship, and in 2010, he was named a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He is committed to teaching young artisans, to help ensure that the legacy of this centuries-old artistic practice endures.

Nick was featured in the 2011 Blue & White, and was the commencement speaker in 2015.